A guide plate of known construction has already been described in German OS No. 2,142,678 (corresponds to U.S. Pat. No. 3,814,454). Former guide plate constructions used to be secured to the ski by screws or an adhesive. The screw-type securement has the disadvantage that the screw heads -- even if they originally lie lower than the surface of the guide disk -- project from the guide strip after same is worn and can cause the boot sole to be caught. The use of adhesive alone is in the long run without effect in the case of guide strips which consist of a material with extremely advantageous sliding characteristics. A different type of fastening lies in a method, according to which a thin tetrafluoroethylene layer is melted onto an elastic carrier and the carrier is glued onto the ski surface. This construction has the disadvantages, according to the mentioned German OS No. 2,142,678, of being easily damaged by the heavy and rigid ski boots. A very thin guide layer is, during prolonged use affected disadvantageously by the riffles on the bottom of the boot sole, because the profiling will with time work itself into the guide surface and considerably reduce its sliding characteristics.
The teaching discussed in the German OS No. 2,142,678 circumvents the known disadvantages by having the guide plate rest in a large-surface mounting plate and be secured with its surface only slightly projecting above the upper side of the mounting plate, which upper side surrounds the guide plate.
This embodiment overcomes on the one hand the danger of damage to the guide plate, however, on the other hand it has the disadvantage that the wear of the guide plate is difficult to notice and, as a result, the boot sole no longer slides on the worn surface of the guide plate, but on the mounting plate. Since the sliding characteristics of the guide plate and of the mounting plate are substantially different, where worn guide plates are used, the desired objectives are no longer achieved.
In this connection, it must be emphasized particularly that the normal skier does not give enough attention to maintaining a perfect condition of his skiing equipment. Each man skilled in the art knows the consequences of poorly adjusted ski bindings. However, it cannot be expected that the normal nonexpert skier would pay particular attention to the small wear areas which are being created. Even the perfect operation in a new component may, after a certain amount of wear, have bad consequences on the slopes.
Here is where the invention becomes important. The invention has as its objective to produce a guide plate assembly which can be held simply and securely on a ski surface and the worn areas of which can easily be recognized.
The purpose of the invention is attained by the provision of a guide strip on a mounting plate, at least one of these component having at least one recess, for example, a groove, a riffle, a bore or the like and a locking element, for example a rib, a tooth, a head, a button or the like, which locking element engages said recess, whereby the superposed surfaces of the guide strip and mounting plate effect a still further locking function.
The inventive construction achieves, on the one hand a secure holding of the guide strip on or in the mounting plate and, on the other hand by using a locking device, an undesired shifting of the guide strip on the mounting plate in longitudinal direction of the cooperating locking elements is avoided.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the engaging or joining parts of a recess and a holding element are of a dovetail-shaped construction. The recess lies advantageously in the guide strip and the holding element on the mounting plate. In this manner, it is possible to move the guide strip in a longitudinal direction onto the surface of the mounting plate, and a sliding out thereof is reliably avoided by the mentioned further locking device. A wear of the guide plate is indicated by the present construction with a sufficient amount of reliability, even if the sides would wear more than the center part.
A further objective of the invention consists in the guide strip having an arc-shaped extending surface being mounted caplike on the mounting plate. This embodiment constructs a particularly favorable guide surface, because the distorted support surface is less sensitive with respect to damages.
According to a different embodiment of the invention, snap pins are provided on one of the engaging elements, preferably on the guide strip, which snap pins cooperate with associated recesses of the other locking element, preferably in the mounting plate. In this case, the recesses are defined by ribbed brackets which in snapping-in direction have a certain flexibility, so that when the guide strip is pressed downwardly on the mounting plate they experience a self-deformation, however, after the receiving operation is finished, they hold the snap pins.
According to a further characteristic of the invention, several, advantageously three, holding devices of the recess and tongue type are used. In a further development of the objectives of the invention, the laterally extending holding devices are constructed oppositely compared with the center one. This construction results in a particularly secure locking arrangement.
According to a different objective of the invention, the locking device can consist of a recess which has a shape similar to a semisphere in the one surface and of an associated semispheric member on the surface of the other part. In this manner, after moving the guide plate onto the mounting plate, movement in a longitudinal direction of the holding device is avoided. A further number of similar locking devices can be used, the form of which may differ from a semisphere.
In a further embodiment of the invention, a projection which is positioned transversely to the holding device is provided as a locking device, which projection cooperates with a corresponding recess in the surface of the other part.
All of these locking devices are constructed inventively so that they assure an installation on the guide plate without a change in form of the same and/or of the mounting plate.
According to a still further characteristic of the invention, the mounting plate is constructed in two parts, the parts of which are pressed apart by a spring located between both parts, whereby the guide strip grips clamplike around the upper part of the mounting plate, which upper part has wings. This construction has the advantage, that during installation, the mounting plate may be pretensioned, so that the guide strip can be held without any additional locking device being required.